Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central by-election, 1919

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The Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central on 16 April 1919.

By-elections, also spelled bye-elections, are used to fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections.

United Kingdom constituencies electoral area in the UK (do not use in P31; use subclasses of this instead)

In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elect one member to a parliament or assembly, with the exception of European Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly constituencies which are multi member constituencies.

Aberdeen and Kincardine Central, also known as Central Aberdeenshire, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the Coalition Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Alexander Theodore Gordon died on 6 March 1919 aged just 37, from heart failure after suffering from influenza. He had held the seat only since the 1918 general election.

Alexander Theodore Gordon was a Scottish Unionist Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen and Kincardine Central in the 1918 General Election, but died two months later.

Influenza infectious disease

Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus. Symptoms can be mild to severe. The most common symptoms include: high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, sneezing, and feeling tired. These symptoms typically begin two days after exposure to the virus and most last less than a week. The cough, however, may last for more than two weeks. In children, there may be diarrhea and vomiting, but these are not common in adults. Diarrhea and vomiting occur more commonly in gastroenteritis, which is an unrelated disease and sometimes inaccurately referred to as "stomach flu" or the "24-hour flu". Complications of influenza may include viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, sinus infections, and worsening of previous health problems such as asthma or heart failure.

General Election 1918: Aberdeen and Kincardine Central [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
C Unionist Alexander Theodore Gordon 6,546 52.6
Liberal John Henderson 5,908 47.4
Majority 638 5.2 −
Turnout 12,454 −
Unionist hold Swing
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Political background

According to reports in The Times, popular opinion was swinging against the coalition government of David Lloyd George and Bonar Law and the Independent, Asquithian Liberals were making the most of the government's popularity to revive. [2]

David Lloyd George Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician. He was the final Liberal to serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Bonar Law former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Andrew Bonar Law, commonly called Bonar Law, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1922 to 1923.

Candidates

Coalition

The Liberal candidate at the 1918 general election, John Henderson, who had been Liberal MP for West Aberdeenshire since 1906 [3] had only lost to Gordon by the narrow margin of 638 votes. [2] Henderson had been expected to be the Liberals' by-election candidate. In fact, because of Henderson's strong showing at the general election and the traditional strength of the Liberal Party in the area, the Coalition whips were apparently prepared to endorse him for the by-election, giving him the equivalent of coalition coupon which had been offered to authorised candidates at the 1918 general election. Henderson, no doubt eager to return to Parliament, and fully supported by the local Liberal Association, had reportedly made his peace with Freddie Guest, Lloyd George's Chief Whip. However the local Conservatives were not happy with this arrangement and decided to stand their own candidate, Mr L F W Davidson. [4] This situation proved depressing for the Coalition leaders and no 'coupon' was forthcoming for either Henderson or Davidson by the time the by-election writ was moved on 24 March. [5]

Liberal Party (UK) political party of the United Kingdom, 1859–1988

The Liberal Party was one of the two major parties in the United Kingdom with the opposing Conservative Party in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The party arose from an alliance of Whigs and free trade Peelites and Radicals favourable to the ideals of the American and French Revolutions in the 1850s. By the end of the 19th century, it had formed four governments under William Gladstone. Despite being divided over the issue of Irish Home Rule, the party returned to government in 1905 and then won a landslide victory in the following year's general election.

WestAberdeenshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 to 1918 and from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This usually means ensuring members of the party vote according to the party platform or other accepted policy views shared by the party, rather than according to their own individual conscience or the will of their constituents.

Liberal

Henderson further muddied the waters by standing down as Liberal candidate and the local Association turned instead to Major Murdoch McKenzie Wood, a barrister and former Gordon Highlander, who had unsuccessfully fought Ayr Burghs at the 1918 general election. [6] By the time the by-election campaigning was properly under way, the 'coupon', such as it was, had presumably been bestowed on Davidson as he was described in the election literature and the press as the Coalition Unionist or Coalition Conservative candidate. [6]

Murdoch McKenzie Wood Scottish politician

Major Sir Murdoch McKenzie Wood OBE, DL was a Scottish Liberal politician.

Gordon Highlanders

The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Highlanders to form the Highlanders.

Ayr Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Labour

The contest was a three-cornered affair, with Joseph F. Duncan, the general secretary of the Scottish Farm Servants' Union, fighting the seat for Labour. [7]

The Scottish Farm Servants' Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom.

The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom which has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party's platform emphasises greater state intervention, social justice and strengthening workers' rights.

The popularity of the Coalition

Duncan's candidacy was expected to complicate the possible outcome of the election by splitting the anti-Coalition vote. [8] In the event, this turned out to be the case but not by quite enough to deliver the seat to the Coalition candidate and Wood was returned to Parliament with a majority of 186 over Davidson. However the combined Liberal and Labour vote amounted to 63.9% of the poll and was clearly a severe blow to the Coalition, coming so soon after their overwhelming success in the 1918 general election and hard on the heels of other by-election defeats in Hull and Leyton West. As was pointed out in The Times, no Coalition seat could be considered safe given the temper of the electorate at the time and the Coalition coupon which had been a talisman for candidates a few short weeks before was turning into a curse. [9]

Result

Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central by-election, 1919
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Liberal Murdoch McKenzie Wood 4,950 37.5 −9.9
C Unionist Leybourne Francis Watson Davidson 4,764 36.1 -16.5
Labour Joseph Forbes Duncan 3,482 26.4 +26.4
Majority 186 1.4 6.6
Turnout 56.9 −
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +3.3
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Aftermath

General Election 1922 [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Liberal Murdoch McKenzie Wood 9,779 60.1 +22.6
Unionist Robert Smith 6,481 39.9 +3.8
Majority 3,298 20.2 +13.6
Turnout 16,260
Liberal hold Swing +6.8

See also

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References

  1. ↑ The Times, 30 December 1918
  2. 1 2 The Times, London, 8 March 1919
  3. ↑ The Times guide to the House of Commons Vol. 3, 1910-1918., London: Politico's Publishing 2004, p.108. ISBN   978-1-84275-034-6
  4. ↑ The Times, London, 19 March 1919
  5. ↑ The Times, London, 22 March 1919
  6. 1 2 The Times, London, 14 April 1919
  7. ↑ The Times, London, 26 March 1919.
  8. ↑ The Times, London, 15 April 1919
  9. ↑ The Times, London, 1 May 1919.
  10. ↑ The Times, 17 November 1922
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